Icy Box 2.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosure

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Bay devices can be very useful when you need to add something to your computer that is not necessarily standard. There is a lot of selection as far as what different products can do, but if you have a specific goal in mind there is probably something out there for you. Most 5.25″ bay inserts are used to add controls to the system, but they can also display information, provide cooling, or add storage. One common theme with these products is a focus on convenience and ease of use.

The Icy Box IB-266StUSD is a device that fits in a computer case’s 3.5″ bay. It holds a 2.5″ SATA hard drive which is placed in a removable enclosure. The enclosure and it’s hard drive are hotswappable because they use a external SATA connection. This means fast transfer speeds and easy access to your drive, as well as a very small enclosure. A 2.5″ drive won’t have the performance of a 3.5″ one and is more expensive (per gigabyte), but it is much easier to transport and will generally not require external power to operate.

The IB-266StUSD is basically a plastic frame that is placed in an empty 3.5″ bay. It has a four-pin molex wire and a SATA hard drive connection coming out of the back so that it can hook up with the computer. At the front of the bay is a door that stays shut when not in use though if it was open you would be able to see the main component: a spring-loaded tray for the drive enclosure. When the enclosure is pushed into place the it connects with the eSATA and power connections on the front of the tray and then, when it is pushed back enough, it locks into place. At this point the enclosure will be flush with the bezel of the case. To remove the drive enclosure you simply need to push it back in and the spring will release so as to extend from the front of the drive by about half an inch. A firm pull will sever the connections and make the drive mobile.

The drive enclosure is about 5.5″ long, 3.25″ wide, and just 0.5″ tall. It is made of brushed aluminum with plastic panels on the front and back. It is a very basic, sleek package for getting a 2.5″ SATA drive from one place to another, nothing more. The front of the unit has two LEDs and two labels for indicating power and read/write. The rear of the enclosure is home to a power connection, a external SATA connection, and a Firewire port.

Opening up the enclosure makes it clear just how simple the device is. Inside there are the two SATA connections (power and data) as well as two small circuit boards at the ends and some wires connecting them. The drive enclosure is uncooled and unpadded save for two small foam inserts at the opposite end of the connections.

Working with the enclosure is very simple. It is just a matter of putting the tray in an empty 3.5″ bay (if your computer even has one at this point) and then connecting the molex and internal SATA wires. This will occupy the bay until you are ready to add the drive and its enclosure to it. The drive installation is just as easy- a 2.5″ SATA drive is put in the enclosure and held shut with the four screws that keep it’s top panel in place. The drive itself is held in place with pressure of those very tiny (and hard to work with) screws.

When the external piece is ready you simply need to insert it into the bay. With enough force it will push against the internal springs and lock into place once it is flat with the case’s bezel (and a latch in the rear has been triggered). This will ensure a good connection with the power and eSATA ports that join the two. Because eSATA is hot-swappable the system should immediately recognize the drive and be ready for high speed transfers.

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Included with the bay converter is a faux leather case for the external enclosure, eSATA wiring, a USB-to-Firewire wire, and a USB-to-power wiring. The instructions only cover the installation, not the operation so there will be some questions about what wiring will be needed. The USB-to-Firewire has a power connection integrated into the USB side so two USB connections will be needed at times. There is no Firewire-to-Firewire cable or way to power the external drive from molex or an outlet.

There was really nothing noteworthy about the performance of the device- it installed and operated without problems. The transfer speeds are going to depend on the drive and system, but you should be able to get standard eSATA speeds when the drive is using this connection. The problem of course is that aside from the device’s home system (which actually connects to it with SATA, not eSATA) there are still not many systems that use external SATA. This will be changing in the coming years, but at the present this is not an ideal way to share data. For the time being the USB connection is still an option, but it cannot over the same performance and uses a strange wiring scheme so the device is best used for people who have access to external SATA.

ConclusionThe Icy Box IB-266StUSD drive enclosure, despite not really having a great name or much brand recognition, will be a very useful product for some consumers. The build quality has a way to go and aesthetically it needs work, but for people who want easy access to a 2.5″ external drive along with the convenience of using it internally this is one of the only products on the market. This can’t be a very large group of consumers, but as eSATA gets more popular the product will appeal to more people.

The ease of popping the drive into an internal enclosure and enjoying the speed of eSATA with something this portable is the device’s strongest selling point. The idea is great, but the implementation still needs work. Plus it would be great to see this in a 5.25″ version as newer cases are cutting down on 3.5″ bays and these tend to be used for things like card readers if they are used at all.

(+)– Add a 2.5″ drive to you 3.5″ bay– Easy to install

(-)– Build quality needs improvement– Not many computers use eSATA yet– Where do I buy one?